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parky36
Reviews
Argo (2012)
Mr Affleck......................................................
I am about to cry now, this was one of the best films I have seen in years. Not only that this was a true movie, but really now Mr. Affleck you deserve the Nobel Peace prize as far as I am concerned. I can only imagine how the six people feel right today alive in our midst. This was more then a monumental task of putting something like this together KUDOS to the man and the everyone who made the moral decision to save American lives and with such selfless love of life.
His reuniting with his family, I almost lost it.
WELLLLLLL DONE is all I can add, very well done and am proud to be an American today who got to see this fine movie. Any Spoilers, you need to get a life.
The Butler (2013)
Historical fiction
The movie is about emotional needs between a handful of people. Drama. The issues of historical significance is real, the white actors are portrayed a week and filled with non caring. Fact is they all cared and more so than the movie makes out. The legacies of these fine presidents goes but all unnoticed.
1. Eisenhower started the civil rights of modern era, he also gave us our wonderful freeway system. Without him we would be in SUV's riding rough dirt.
2. Kennedy had too much on his plate. The Red threat, the mob, the Whitey Bulgar of his time beginning and the FBI involved. Kennedy put The US to the moon putting millions to work, and this was lost. Blending into Jonson, The Vice President started the Vietnam War because he wanted to, not because we needed to, by sycophants in his cabinet. The Mekong delta was being surveyed by Rockefeller's company Chevron bombing the seas doing a survey. Walter Cronkite asked that very question.
3. The only president they got right was Lindon Johnson, there is no doubt he was an idiot.
4. Need we say more about Nixon, Tricky Dick? Well he did give the US its first Clean Air and Clean Water Act. Lost again, only the weak man shown.
5. Reagan. Really? its like non of us ever grew up in that era. This was the Go Go era of a dynamic persona of might power and grace. Not the weak knee propaganda presented.
6. Barack Obama. Okay we all know what happened there, yes we elected him. Is it great? I for on think not, the administration says all energy to be explored and gas fracking is killing Americans. Its taking Democratic leadership in the House to kill fracking. Obama is silent other than telling the EPA leave it alone. For shame.
To me this was a nice movie to watch about half way through, it had an endearing story to tell. After that its smites of propaganda of cherry picked reality. Another persona cherry picked history, his name was Napoleon.
Is the movie a propaganda movie with a particular agenda? Is the movie house Napoleon in new drag? Its a dramatic movie of a real character placed in fictional casting. The rest I cast as evidence.
Summer of '42 (1971)
Two things come to mind
First off it as someone else pointed out rape. If you like that sort of thing have your head checked. I found it disturbing but does not surprise me from the era of the "me" generation.
The other area that I find very disturbing was the path of the time-line. We were engulfed in a horrific period of time where bloodshed eclipsed anything we ever knew and this movie did one thing it trivialized it. Losing a husband with such a deep bond and thinking it okay to have a sexual relationship during mourning is sickening.
This author is a pervert, is sick, and I for one find this movie nothing but offensive. I am sorry for those of you who liked it, you might want to think about your own mental health to tell you the truth because the theme here is one of a depraved mind. This is as far form a classic that I have ever seen and this is coming form someone with a very healthy view of life, fully Maslow engaged, and stability in every facet. I do not need to see a movie ingratiating sex. This is delusion, it is greed, it is deprivation and packaged in nice clothes, all the elements of wrong headed life.
East of Eden (1981)
Fine if you like idealism
It's Steinbeck who in his artful capacity created a very compelling story that in real life would be idealistic and cause the world to grind to a halt. Its a fine story don't get me wrong but the idealism of the father caused a lot of the problems and in our real world where capitalism thrives we have to take a lot of it as a grain of salt.
Bottom line is in the real world we have trade, we have intermediaries and yes middlemen that make a buck. In the final analysis the farmers made out better in the short term, the investors made out, and the end user accepted the terms. That's the cold hard facts of life not some BS of "oh the poor farmers". The latter is communism which fits. We live in a world of goods and quid pro quo exchanges. If we don't do that then none of your work with worth anything. That is the trouble here having worth including the middle men who do add value. Why do you think the lettuce failed. Had he had intermediaries instead which he should have paid for they could have checked it along the way.
Steinbeck is a fine writer and in his magnum opus he did a discredit to the western world. I give it a seven, the mechanics of the writing is superb, the plot lines are idealistic.
War Horse (2011)
A movie about Empire ruined
This story, and it is a fictional story, tries to embellish war. This period of time was one of pure bloodshed and the difference between tin stupid empire soldiers and the mechanized ones. One thing history has clearly shown is that Empire before 1904 was bustling, after 1919 it had all but failed. Germany did win, but the allied forces huckstered the Germans into failure. The biggest issue was unable to get the troops to do their duty in light of huge casualties. Very understandable war is for creeps. There was nothing okay from WW1 it led to WW2.
This story tries to make a hero out of a horse. Wonderful, just what we need some farm animal to tell us war is okay. I for one do not buy this Napoleon chronicling of of a war, it was distasteful, distrustful, and disturbing. The only people who like these things are sociopaths, go for it. There was nothing okay from WW1 it led to WW2.
I for one want world peace, this form of movie making romanticizes war.
Die Rothschilds (1940)
The worst
While technically well done, this director obviously dead now and probably a NAZI did his worst in putting forth a history filtered from obvious hatred. The actors here are just as bad. This gives a stilted view as so does the other movie in the other direction: "The House of Rothschild" where both have inaccurate facts. Any movie that starts out that this is factual and no facts to support the claims is bad. This movie fails in all regard to be enjoyable and honest; it is full of anger, envy, resentment, superiority and ego all signs of evil. If anything needs to be purged from the human history, this is it.
Read History, these movies only give a stilted view of the times. From an analysis of the hatred NAZI's had for Jews, this movie does a great job of that. Everything else is laughable. This move ranks for me as one of the worst I have ever seen. I am a Gentile and am ashamed for this movie.
Rich Man, Poor Man (1976)
Spoiler not so great at money figures
Give me a break, the father owns a business and saves a whopping $3 grand over a lifetime; and next to a supermarket?! I would have walked in, and bargained with the best of my bread. But no this author needs a Valium and get over his stinky thoughts. One thing learned in business never be upset about Guitar Center opening next to your music store. For all the products they don't carry, you carry and their advertising dollar brings in the clients into your store as well at no cost to you. That Supermarket could have been the best thing for him had he negotiated with the landlord instead of whining about it. What was the matter with the wife, lazy perhaps? Get in there, wake up early, and start baking the bread. That is life.
The kids a loser never making a dime either, and statutory rape is a stretch, the girl being 17 and I am guessing him 18 or 19 is not statutory rape if she consented. A legal blunder if there ever was one. All the assault as well this author likes living in an age of violence gets it all redeemed. Right, that is what I call a screw loose.
This author advocating slavery no one is paying anyone. Stinky thoughts as well. I bet the rich brother never paid his "servants" social security so really he is the one breaking the law. Her fear of being an illegal alien obviously has zero founding. Fear and greed I hope we are over that today. It is time for hope and generosity.
My mother was German and never behaved like this. Now I did have Jewish friends growing up who did have parents complaining about everything. Sorry but this one is a loser with pessimistic intent.
Here is a wonderful tale of good and evil with an elder telling his son a war he is waging: "My son it is between two wolves. One is an evil wolf: anger, envy, sorrow, greed, self-pity, guilt, resentment, lies, false pride, superiority and ego. The other is the good wolf: joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, generosity, truth, compassion and faith." The boy took this in for a few minutes and then asked, "Which wolf won?" His grandfather answered, "The one I feed." The writer has nothing but the evil wolf.
This also reminds me of a story called "McTeague: A Story of San Francisco" (1899)by Frank Norris later made into one of the last silent films called "Greed" by MGM. If you can sit through it, it obviously is where this writer got most of his ideas. No charity from anywhere here leads me to believe either the writer is obsessively negative, or he is riding on the back of "McTeague".
Frank Norris wrote another story called "The Octopus: A Story of California" (1901)if you really want a look at historical basis for some of the worst robber barons. In fact it was on the heels of a famous case in the 1886 of Santa Clara County v Southern Pacific Railroad where the issue was over taxing of fencing, and the result was a robber baron in charge of writing up the headers for the Supreme Court (the court abstract), and lied about the case and claimed this was a case of corporate rights to freedom of speech. When the Chief Justice asked about the writeup he was huckstered into thinking that was argued. That Chief Justice died before he could ever straighten out that evil record. Nothing was further from the truth and we are living today with that corporate lie that the 14th amendment is also for corporations. If I were African American I would be very upset.
On those heals came the robber barons which Frank Norris wrote his famous unfinished trilogy of Wheat, The Chicago Board of Trade, and the railroads infiltrating all aspects of life. The results were moral stories and good endings with people redeemed and those evil, damned. Bottom line is it was in part Frank Norris's writings that were the inspiration for the Sherman Anti Trust Act and the end to the robber barons trusts.
Unfortunately the Bush years did further damage to all of this repealing just about everything which resulted in the financial collapse starting in 2007. This author did not hit any of those points and is to me a obsessive pessimist.
Now ask yourself what is the writer's intent. I would like to see another Frank Norris come into our world, but I do not find him anywhere. Too bad too in his day the publisher couldn't keep the copies printed fast enough. This author is far from that. Wonder what his take is on Apple Computer or Microsoft. Missed those completely.
The King's Speech (2010)
Fantastic
I love this period of the 20th century and this movie does not let history down. A must see with parts that brings tears to ones eye with that passionate speech at the end. A brilliant speech in its own right, and with the passions of someone, of people not with the King's best interest wanted to see fail, overcame all the adversity and stood up proud and strong and gave a speech that moved England's troops in the dark days of WW2.
This Monarch is one of a kind who overcame his issues to put Hitler in his place; history records the rest. I tend to think had this Monarch not stood up to the plate, England's Monarchy might not have been the only thing ruined. In hind sight the commonwealth is better for the world at large but these were testy times and this movie does history proud service to this era. Great movie I will see it again.
Eat Pray Love (2010)
Not for everyone
I think it is great that people have the resources to getting to self awareness. True happiness as the movie clearly points out is "from within". For me anywhere is everywhere and I for one do not need to go to the ends of the earth to find my "bliss".
I do travel, but to experience, love, and immerse myself in another's culture that I can't experience at home.
But this book and now movie was researched during better times. There is no relevance to today's world in having this globe tripping experience except for the well to do. So this Grumpy Grumperson says let's fix our problems at home before we start to engage in Maslow's final head trip.
It was sad to see the self absorbed nature this movie took. There is not an ounce of nurture here, and within being a human, nurturing is mandatory. This movie comes off as an ego emblazoned person who sought out answers and picked and chose what she wanted and on and on and on.
See it for what it is and nothing else and for me my true happiness is found right at home meaning I would wait for the DVD.